'I was thinking..': Gambhir Narrates Virat Kohli About His Dreadful Dismissal In 2011 ODI WC Final

As an Indian Cricket fan, one would want to live the glorious night of April 2, 2011, again and again. It was the day when Dhoni finished off in style and Team India ended the 28-year-long wait of lifting the ODI World Cup . The enormity of the victory still echoes after 11 years and yet fanatics haven't stopped from forming alternate realities where Team India has chased the target with few modifications in the scorecard. One of the most heartbreaking moments in that India vs Sri Lanka match was the dismissal of Gautam Gambhir at the score of 97.  The now head coach of Team India was just three short of becoming the first Indian to have registered a century in a final. However, it wasn't meant to be and till now people wish that he hasn't played that shot. In a chat with Virat Kohli , Gambhir revealed what got into his head that he resorted to stepping out and got clean bowled by Thisara Perera.

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Gautam Gambhir On Why He Played That Shot in the 2011 ODI World Cup Final

On Wednesday, BCCI released a video of a tete-a-tete between Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir . The duo paid heed to a variety of subjects while sitting on a couch. Amid the conversation, Gambhir was walking through the subject of how to plan a perfect run-chase and in the process brought forward his famous dismissal from the 2011 ODI World Cup final.

Gambhir revealed that the position of being at 97 got to him and from thinking about chasing down the score his mind was pervaded by the thoughts of crossing the "milestone" that was in front of him.

"The reason why I played that shot because before that short I was only thinking about what I need what we needed to Chase and the moment you reach 97 and then you start thinking I'm just one shot away from getting my own Milestone and how am I going to celebrate whether I'm going to celebrate like this, first Indian to score 100 in the World Cup final.

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The Regret That Followed After Playing That Shot

Gambhir further stated that when he was dismissed the disappointment was not of missing the 100 on the biggest occasion but it was more about rendering the opposition an opportunity to storm right back into the match.

"The disappointment was not missing out on 100 the disappointment was giving the opposition a breather imagine getting the opposition back in the game. So I feel that these are small small things which the Next Generation has to think from a point of view that how important it is to stay in the present because all you can control in cricket is that moment that one particular contest. What has happened has happened what's going to happen has not happened has yet so for me, I think if and that is also mental toughness if you can do that I think that is also one way of being in that zone."